Stormy Hearts
by melodyfireprincess
Summary: Tea learns about her family. Melody looks after her young sister. Aramis tells fortunes. Each personal character's story has its own place and interconnects with the others. No one person is ever truly alone. Rated K just in case.
1. Peace, love, and Harmony

Setting: after the Duelist Kingdom arc, but they're all about eighteen and still in school.

Chapter 1 Peace, love, and Harmony

A/N: Why is it we never know about the characters ever going to the bathroom? Do they never have to pee?

Blue light from the street light poured into Yugi Moto's bedroom. It was a quiet night. Too quiet. Yugi stirred in his bed for no apparent reason. He put a hand up to his miraculously styled tri-colored hair. Not a strand was out of place. Amazing.

Yugi got out of bed and stumbled in a half-asleep stupor to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Wait- that wasn't a bathroom. An assortment of fluffy towels rained down upon the poor unsuspecting 18-year old. Yes, he was eighteen, but he didn't look a day over twelve. This was an aggravation when he was driving down an old dirt road and randomly a cop would stop him. This happened more than once a week, and Yugi had been driving for about two years. You'd think the cops would have figured it out by now.

Yugi stupidly held up a towel and tried to stuff it into the wall. (He had been aiming for the closet.)

Yugi's elderly grandfather came out to see what all the fuss was about. "Yugi, you're sleepwalking again," he said, shaking the boy.

Yugi didn't reply.

"Yugi!" Grandpa Moto shook him harder. "Wake up!"

"Ehhhhh... Grandpa! What are you doing up?"

Grandpa -_-'ed. "You were sleepwalking again."

"We're going to have to see someone about this. It's getting to be a problem."

"Yeah," his grandfather said, remembering the incident with the jelly. Two weeks ago, Yugi had tried to make jam on toast for a midnight snack. It didn't end too well. Grandpa winced at the memory of the broken jars on his freshly waxed kitchen floor.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Yugi said.

"All right then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

On his way back to bed, Yugi heard a noise outside. He made his way to the window and lifted the blinds to see the silhouette of a young, pink-haired girl in a black dress standing next to his mailbox. 'Who is that girl?' Yugi wondered. He planned to rap on the window and alarm her, but sleep overcame him and he sleepily collapsed on the floor, right next to his bed.

The girl outside looked at the window to see that the blinds were up now. 'Those weren't up before, were they?' she thought. She shivered in the cold. One knee-length black dress and a pair of white boots with no jacket or leggings was a very bad idea in this weather. At least she had white gloves. She rubbed them together, then cupped her hands and blew into them.

'It's much too cold for Domino City,' she mused. She looked again through the window and observed a table with a triangular, gold-colored bauble sitting on an oak desk. It had a string attatched to it so one could put it on, like a necklace. The girl wondered what kind of person would wear such on ostentatious necklace, then turned around and walked away.


	2. Found You

Chapter 2

"Harmony!"

The pink-haired girl froze. 'Who could possibly have found me here?' she thought. 'This hiding place was ingenious!'

Harmony was sitting on the swingset of a backyard display at the Domino Shopping Mart, along with a few realistic-looking plastic statues of seated children. She had needed a place to plan her next move.

A black-haired girl in a Domino Shopping Mart employee uniform [white shirt, red vest, black pants] made her way towards the swingset. "Harmony, you're wearing the blue drop necklace that Melody gave you last Christmas."

Before Harmony had a chance to speak, she went on. "I was with her when she bought it. But I had no idea you'd never take it off. Even when you were running away. Won't it bother you? Won't it be a constant reminder of your worried sister? Won't it make you feel exceedingly guilty for leaving her behind? Won't it-?"

"Shut _up_, Byakko. No matter what you say, I'm not changing my mind. And how did you know I was running away?"

"Why else would you be here at 1:19 in the morning? You don't work here."

"I could ask you the same. It's a school night. Aren't you supposed to be at home? Sleeping?"

Byakko sighed, took one of the plastic child statues off of the swingset, and sat next to Harmony.

"They put me on the night shift again, even though we specified that I couldn't work nights in the application."

"Oh." Harmony started to swing.

"But... it's not like I have a choice... money's getting kind of tight these days..." The black-haired employee looked wistfully at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," Harmony said.

Byakko smiled, closing her eyes. "It's alright. It's not like it's your fault."

"I know," replied the pink-haired girl. "I still feel that way though."

They sat there for a moment. "You know," said Byakko. "You really should be getting home now."

Harmony laughed. "Yeah, right."

The two girls laughed, then Byakko's face fell. "Seriously."


	3. The Gift

Chapter 3

Melody Sanno looked out of her window into the light that shone into her bedroom from outside. "Harmony, where could you be?" she queried softly.

"Somewhere far away from here," a deep, dark voice answered her.

"Who's that?" She spun around quickly to find... nothing. Which, of course, is always creepier than finding something after you've heard a voice come from that specific area.

She was sitting on her bed panicking silently for a while, trying to figure out what to do, when a tall, white-haired figure materialized in front of her. He was wearing something strange around his neck, a gold, oddly-shaped, ornamental piece of jewelry.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at it.

"You are curious, I see," the figure said, grinning evilly. "Too bad you'll never find out." A flash of white light engulfed the room and both people disappeared.

"My necklace!" Harmony shrieked. The blue drop on her necklace was vibrating under the top of her dress. She pulled it out to see if anything else was wrong, but nothing was. "Why is it vibrating?" Warily, she took it out and held it in front of her.

Byakko sweatdropped. "Uh... when Melody gave you that necklace, by any chance, was it in a black box with gold writing?"

"Uh..." Harmony's forehead creased as she tried to remember. "I don't know. I don't usually remember what kind of packaging my presents come in."

Byakko laughed slightly. "I'm asking because we got it from a fortune-teller's shop. And it may or may not have some kind of magical, spiritual, or supernatural powers."

* * *

I know it's short. I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. (It's longer.)


	4. Thief

Chapter 4

Melody opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a strange place, a dark area surrounded by wooden crates. Above her a crate sat suspended by to crates underneath. The area in between was where Melody dwelt. The dirt under her feet was wet, and it stank of rotting flesh.

"Man, it's disgusting in here," she couldn't help but say.

"Way to state the obvious," said a voice. Melody whirled around. "Who's there?"

A blonde guy older, and thicker, than her walked towards her, smirking. He wore a star-spangled bandanna and street clothes. "Hey."

Melody stiffened.

The man grabbed a lock of her long purple hair and gave her a once-over. "Pretty," he said. "Too bad, too bad. You're not going to last very long."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Bakura doesn't like to leave his prisoners living."

"Oh my God. I've got to get out of here!" Melody tried to climb up the side of a crate, but her foot slipped and she landed face-first in mud. "Eeughh."

"Already tried that, Sweetie. Doesn't work."

Melody made a face. "What's your name?"

"Keith. Bandit Keith."

"Uh... huh. Well, Keith..." She looked around again. "What else did you try?" She figured it might be better to work together.

"Like I'd tell you."

"Why not?" asked Melody. "It's not like it worked, so even if I tried it, I wouldn't get out either."

"Hmmm."

"Hey, I've got an idea. What if you hoisted me up? I could pull you out."

"Yeah, right. Like I'd fall for that. You'd leave as soon as you got out."

"Only to get help."

"Sure."

"You don't know me, you don't know that I'd come back."

"Better safe than sorry."

Melody smiled. "What if..." she took a red star necklace off of her neck. "If I gave this to you. I would never leave without it."

"You're too trusting."

"Well, how else are you going to get out of here?" Melody queried, looking around to see if she missed something.

Bandit Keith smirked as the purple-haired girl lowered her necklace into his hand. He pocketed it and hoisted her up through a wide crack between the crates. Melody climbed out, stood up, and dusted her muddy self off. "Ready?" she asked, sticking her hand down.

Bandit Keith nodded, and took her hand. She pulled him up eventually, with great effort. He used her to pulley himself like a rock climber. Once he was up, he grinned and turned to leave. "I told you you were too trusting. I kept your necklace."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

Melody grinned and held up the necklace. "I knew you would try. For one, you said I was too trusting, and anyone who calls himself "bandit" can't be trusted. So I pilfered it when you let your guard down. Besides, it doesn't matter now, we're free!"

"How did you get out?" Bakura appeared in front of them, and he was not happy.

"I saw through your little scheme, Bakura. You put me with someone you knew would never agree to teamwork."

"You worked together?" He said it like it was a bad thing.

"Yes..." Melody's voice quivered. "What are you going to do now?"

Bakura stood there for a moment. His expression grew angry. "Where is it?"

"You mean this?" Melody pulled out the millenium ring.

Bandit Keith's eyes widened. "That's-"

"_Mine_!" Bakura lunged for his treasured item.

"Try and catch us!" Melody and Bandit Keith both took off separate ways, running on top of the wooden crates, up and down the small mountains they made. Bakura ran after Melody, who tripped and fell hard on top of a wooden crate. "Ow, ow, owww!" she cried. The millenium ring was knocked out of her hand and slid across the surface of a wooden crate and fell into a hole. Down it went until Melody heard a clink on the floor below. "Shit."

Bakura faltered and lost his balance, collapsing onto the floor. His innocent side lifted his head wearily. "What's going on?"

Now it was Melody's turn to be surprised. "Wha- weren't you just evil?"

Bakura lifted an eyebrow. "Evil?"

"Yeah... you were chasing me and killing people... weren't you?"

Bakura's face fell. "Oh, no. It happened again."

"What happened?" Melody cocked her head to the side.

"It's that ring. Every so often something happens and I lose my memory for a while. And when I come to, people usually tell me I've done something... terrible. I'm surprised it's never landed me in jail. But I can't get rid of it."

Melody looked at him. "Wow."

"I've tried everything!" he cried. "I just can't get rid of it."

Melody frowned. "I'm sorry."

The two heard car brakes squealing and turned around to see what could only be Bandit Keith's car [red, white, and blue paint job, nice rims] tear down the street at high speed.

Melody shook her head. "He's gonna kill himself that way."

Bakura sniffed. "Is that... rotting flesh? What have I done?"

Melody frowned. "Do you want to... see a psychiatrist or something?"

"No!" Bakura shrieked. "I'm sorry, it's just... I can't take psychiatrists. They... freak me out."

Melody raised an eyebrow. Something told her this wasn't the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 'But,' she thought. 'It doesn't really matter right now. I've gotta get out of here before he flips out again.'

"Well, I've got to go. My mom's gonna freak out when she wakes up and finds I'm not there." She didn't say the only reason she knew exactly what her mom would do is because it happened before.

Bakura nodded. "Alright. I hope... I see you again."

Melody's eyebrows shot up. 'What?' she thought. "Yeah. I ...hope to see you again, too." She turned to go, smiling as she went. He was cute.

* * *

"The sun's rising, Harmony. You should head on home."

"No."

Byakko sighed. "Why not?"

"I've already spent two nights away from home, why should I go back?"

"Um, because your family's probably worried sick about you!"

Harmony shook her head, stood up, and grabbed her satchel. "If you keep bugging me, I'm going to leave."

"Harmony, I wouldn't be a good friend to Melody if I didn't tell you to go home."

"Well, you did. Several times now."

"Sometimes repetition sways people," Byakko said.

"Well, not this time." Harmony frowned. "I guess this is where we part."

Byakko sighed as she watched her best friend's sister leave. "At least be safe, Harmony."

* * *

Harmony made her way down Yugi's street again on her way out. She paused by the mailbox and looked at the window, but the blinds were pulled down this time. Harmony gasped, realizing that whoever was awake could find her, and ran all the way to the end of the street. She paused at the street sign and took time to pant before heading off down another suburban roadway.


	5. Park Bench

Chapter 5

"Aren't you supposed to be at home, sleeping?"

Harmony looked up blearily at a corporate-looking guy towering over her. He had a suit with sunglasses on and held a briefcase.

"No." Harmony turned over and shut her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be heading off to work?"

The businessman frowned. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing. Why do you care if I'm sleeping on a curb?"

The man paused. "Well, you... don't seem like the homeless type, I guess. It looks like you're running away from home."

"My house burnt down. My family was inside." Harmony looked at the man's sunglasses with cold, unfeeling eyes. She was quite good at this game, thanks to years of practice.

"Oh." The man looked uncomfortable. It was now that Harmony realized how strangely his hair stuck out from his head.

"What's in the briefcase?" she asked, prying it open.

The man held it out, away from her. "That's top secret."

Harmony pulled at it until he let it go. It went flying over her head and landed on the ground, open. Nothing fell out.

"It's empty," Harmony stated.

The man frowned. "Keep your affairs to yourself, and expect others to do the same."

"I find it funny that that's your motto, yet you meddle in my affairs. And who goes to their job carrying an empty briefcase?"

"An actor might."

"You're no actor. I know actors, and they act much better than you. You don't have a job, do you?"

The businessman hung his head. "Ever since the Master died."

"Well, you don't have a job, I don't have a house. Why don't we keep each other company?" asked Harmony.

"That might not be a bad idea," said the man.

"What's your name?"

"Croquet. Don't forget it."

"I won't." Harmony squealed in her head and jumped up and down. "I've never had a bodyguard before!"

"Don't get too comfortable," Croquet muttered.

Melody's forehead creased as she concentrated on fixing her necklace clasp. Sweat broke out and rolled down her face. The doorbell rang, shaking her thoughts of the cute white-haired boy from earlier. She quickly got up and rushed to the door.

"Hey, Byakko!" she exclaimed, thrusting the door open and pulling her inside. "You'll never guess what happened to me last night!"

"Ooh, me neither!"

"You go first."

"No, you go first."

"Okay." Melody ushered Byakko into her bedroom and indicated for her to sit down.

"What happened to your necklace?" she asked after she sat down.

"Okay, last night a white-haired guy appeared in my room and took me to this warehouse where he made me prisoner and stuck me down a pit with this other guy who called himself Bandit Keith. We helped each other get out, but I had to bribe him with my necklace. He tried to keep it, but I snagged it back. It got caught on his belt loop and I had to yank it off. So... it broke. Oh, and then Bakura- the white-haired guy showed up and demanded I give him his gold thing back, but I dropped it down a hole, and he turned... nice. And he wanted to know why he'd been acting so weird. He had this air of innocence about him-"

"Was he cute?" Byakko queried.

"Yes! It's too bad his evil side is so... well, evil."

Byakko laughed. "You certainly do have a way of stating the obvious."

Melody deadpanned. "I've noticed. Anyway, what happened to you last night?"

"I saw your sister!"

"Really? Where?"

"I was working at Domino Shopping Mart and she was sitting on the swingset display, so I went to talk to her for a bit, but I couldn't convince her to come home."

Melody sighed. "Well, at least we know she's alive."

"Uh huh. And she's still wearing the necklace you gave her. Oh, by the way, it started vibrating."

"What? How did it stop?"

Byakko shrugged. "We just let it run its course, and it stopped on its own. But you really should have warned her. Or at least given it to her in the original box."

Melody shrugged. "I wanted to protect her."

"Well," Byakko said. "You may have made a mistake."


End file.
